Sometimes a photograph tells a story that never really happened.
The image above is an AI creation. It combines two costume pieces that I made at different moments in time and sold to two different people. I asked AI to recreate both items exactly as the originals and place them on one person in a Gothic setting. I have always wondered what they would look like together. Now I finally know.
The skirt came first.
I originally made this tiered skirt for a sewing tutorial on the Budgetstoffen blog, back when I regularly wrote sewing articles for them. At first, it looks like an easy project. Just sew strips together... easy, right?
Well, not quite.
To get the right proportions, the perfect length, and the beautiful flowing shape, you need more than just sewing skills. A little mathematical thinking helps too. I spent a lot of time experimenting with silhouettes. How wide should the skirt become? Where should it flare out? Should it have a soft A-line, a dramatic bell shape, or even an hourglass effect?
A tiered skirt can create many different shapes, but finding exactly the right balance takes practice.
And of course, there was the tulle.
A full skirt does not become full by magic. Layer after layer of tulle gives it volume and shape. That also means layer after layer of fabric covering the entire sewing room.
My studio looked like a disaster.
At one point my husband walked in.
"Coffee?"
No answer.
"Coffee?" he asked again, this time with a much more questioning voice.
Still nothing.
With a sigh he walked away. A little later I heard him calling somewhere else in the house that the coffee was ready.
The problem was... he couldn't actually see me.
I was completely hidden behind my sewing machine and overlocker under what felt like mountains of black fabric and endless layers of black tulle. Add a few spider webs and it could easily have been the set of a horror film.
Eventually I decided it really was coffee time.
But first I finished one more tier.
Interrupting this kind of work halfway through is often asking for trouble. Once you lose track of all those layers, it can take much longer to find your rhythm again.
When I finally walked into the living room, my husband looked surprised.
"Where were you?"
"Behind my sewing machine," I replied.
"Very funny," he said.
I wasn't joking.
Whenever you see a very wide skirt with an unusual shape, chances are the dressmaker wasn't working in a perfectly tidy studio. She was probably fighting mountains of fabric while trying to keep everything organised in her head.
The collar has its own story.
For quite a while I was fascinated by tulle. I made many tulle skirts for Elfia, the Dutch fantasy event, and for photographer Erik Bolding. But I also designed dramatic collars with matching boleros.
Bigger.
Bigger still.
And sometimes even bigger than that.
I loved experimenting with layers and different colours. They were beautiful to see in real life, but photographing them well was always a challenge.
Now, several years later, I finally have this wonderful combination image.
Sometimes I wonder if the two buyers will ever meet by chance, wearing these two pieces together.
Probably not.
But I like the thought.
I often think about the people who buy my costumes. I always hope they will send me photographs one day. Every costume, every collar, every skirt becomes a little part of my life while I am making it.
They are a bit like my children.
And the photographs?
Those become the memories that stay with me forever.
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